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Let's see, Rhapsody stomps iTMS, CHECK!,
"Golly, acesteele
don't you ever post anything but press releases? You know, stories about "bubble millionaires" are not exactly breaking news! (Besides, you posted it already on RB, remember?)
As long as you're searching for articles, how about posting something of interest to investors? Such as... Rich Shurland (MSFT's man at Goldman Sachs if you didn't know) was on Kudlow & Cramer last night. He talked of a 2% increase in regular dividends plus a large one time-payout sometime later in the year. Shurland is not Jack Grubman...so his words are of more than passing interest.
Now THAT'S the kind of news people want to hear about in today's market. The bubble glory days are...history, chief."
Gee, Sorry Bleuski, uh..., "Tulipz" ,
I didn't know pro MSFT postings upset you so much.
let me check my list of press releases I wanna make sure I've posted them all...
"Rhapsody quietly stomps iTMS into the dirt.
While Apple users like to boast that the iTunes Music Store has had 5 million songs downloaded since it's April launch,
Rhapsody has quietly beaten those sales figures to a pulp, by having 11 million tunes purchased during the month of June.
Rhapsody says CD burning doubled since price drop
LOS ANGELES, July 1 (Reuters) - Listen.com on Tuesday said it has seen a nearly 100 percent increase in CD burning among subscribers to its Rhapsody online music service since cutting its fee to 79 cents from 99 cents per track.
Rhapsody would not disclose how many tracks were actually burned in June, but said that on-demand streaming has increased 45 percent to more than 11 million songs, or more than 350,000 songs per day, in June. "
OK, Check! That one's posted...
"Microsoft Millionaires Grapple With Wealth"...
Posted that one too..CHECK!
OOOPS! Haven't posted this'n yet.
The following article appears in today's Wall Street Journal(tm) discussing Microsoft Corp.:
"Company Profits Made Solid Gains In Second Period"
Whewwww, I feel better.
$$$ Ace $$$
[Suppressed Sound Link]
Now THAT's a commercial!
I think it gets the point across LOUD & Clear.
Interesting choice of the Gibson Tobacco Sunburst ES 345
http://www.buymusic.com/commercials.aspx?what=tommylee
Microsoft Millionaires Grapple With Wealth
Sun Aug 3, 1:00 AM ET
By Blaine Harden, Washington Post Staff Writer
SEATTLE -- Randall Thatcher was a gofer -- fetching dry cleaning for a boss he loathed -- when he received his first stock options.
The year was 1987, the company was Microsoft Corp., and Thatcher, a 28-year-old marketing assistant, had no idea what a stock option was. It grants a right to buy stock at a fixed price over a limited time. If the market price soars during that time, a few thousand options can turn into tons of money.
Thatcher also didn't know that Microsoft's president, Bill Gates, was offering options to all full-time employees, even seething, ill-informed gofers.
"I was so indignant about my job, I was going to quit," Thatcher said. "I guess it's lucky I didn't."
By swallowing his pride, tossing his options statements in a desk drawer and soldiering on at Microsoft for 10 more years, Thatcher joined one of the iconic clubs of the 20th century. He became a Microsoft millionaire and retired at 38.
He lives now in downtown Seattle on the top floor of a building with splendid views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. He takes daily banjo lessons, does office work for his church and leads children on tours of a local park. Whenever he and his wife, Shari, feel like it, they catch an afternoon movie. They meet quarterly with financial advisers and expect never to work again.
American history is defined, in part, by the trials and triumphs of its young people. In the Great Depression, a quarter-million teenage hobos rode freight trains and scratched for jobs. In the 1960s, student protesters shut universities and speeded the end of a hated war. In the high-tech boom of the 1990s, legions of geeks and their support staff wandered into wealth.
Arguably, the largest single legion served its time -- and secured its fortune -- in the eastern suburbs of Seattle. That is where an estimated 10,000 Microsoft employees became millionaires during the era of options.
For Microsoft, that era formally ends in September, when the company stops issuing options to employees. The de facto end, however, came three years ago, when Microsoft's stock price tumbled. Options issued since then are all but worthless.
Yet as options recede into history, the wealth that they rained on Seattle continues to percolate -- in the lives of Microsofties who are still learning how to be rich and in the character of this city where much of the money is still being spent, invested and given away.
Like Nothing Before
How much money are we talking here?
All told, about $30 billion in options on software company stock, nearly all of it from Microsoft, were exercised in greater Seattle from 1995 to 2002, said Roberta Pauer, an economist for the Washington State Employment Security Department.
If $30 billion were distributed evenly to the 3.3 million people in the Puget Sound area, it would come to nearly $10,000 each. Nearly all of it, though, went to the people employed full time by Microsoft in the late 1990s.
Keep in mind, this is option money only. Gates, the world's richest man (with $40 billion), never received options. Neither did Microsoft's co-founder, Paul G. Allen, the fourth-richest man (with $20.1 billion), or Microsoft's chief executive, Steven A. Ballmer, the 16th-richest man ($11.1 billion), according to Forbes. Their wealth is based on the actual shares of stock they own in the company.
In Seattle, option wealth alone was plenty to pack a destabilizing wallop.
"It knocked our economy out of kilter," Pauer said. "You got really high levels of consumer spending -- houses, cars, boats -- that were not sustainable. You got all kind of investments that were predicated on a fantasy that this flow of money would go on forever."
To understand the kilter-knocking power of option money here, consider what happened in 1999:
It was the year before the high-tech bubble burst. Across the country, investors were somewhat dementedly bidding up Microsoft stock, engorging the already swollen profits of option holders. The stock price spiked to its all-time, split-adjusted high of $59.56. (The stock was worth 10 cents on that basis when the company went public in 1986.)
Before the year ended, about 8,000 Microsoft workers cashed in options worth about $8 billion for an average payout of $1 million each, said Dick Conway, a Seattle economist who consults for Microsoft.
That was 150 percent of the total annual payroll for the 99,000 employees then working at Boeing Co., the largest employer in Washington state.
"Nothing like this has happened before, and it will probably never happen again," Conway said.
A Microsoft spokesman declined to comment on Conway's estimates, although the economist said he has run them by company officials and was told they sound reasonable.
In announcing last month that it will stop issuing options, Microsoft addressed what has become a major irritant for employees hired after the boom. Their options are worthless and, unlike their veteran colleagues, they have had little chance of getting rich. The company will soon issue restricted stock to its 50,000 employees worldwide. Those shares can be sold in the future if employees stay at Microsoft.
Infected by Wealth
Beginning in the mid-1990s, as Microsoft employees cashed out more and more options, greater Seattle went into a delirium of high-end consumption.
Workmen invaded city neighborhoods, gutting and rebuilding thousands of old houses that offered views of water or mountains. In the eastern suburbs, monstrous new homes -- Microsoft mansions -- encircled lakes and marched into the foothills of the Cascades.
Suddenly, there were waiting lists for yachts, Ferraris and Steinway pianos. Newly purchased horses far outnumbered stalls in local stables. Soaring new-car sales merged with 15 percent population growth to create traffic congestion that ranked among the worst in the nation. Seattle rose to No. 2, after Silicon Valley, in venture capital investment. Much of the money went to dot-com companies that went broke. The number of mental health counselors jumped by 55 percent, according to the state health department.
As wealth infected the polity, voters launched Seattle on its largest-ever public building spree: two sports stadiums, a city hall, an opera house, libraries, fire stations, schools, parks, community centers and housing for the elderly.
"There has never been a convergence of people and discretionary money in this region quite like it," said Lee Huntsman, provost and interim president at the University of Washington, which is in Seattle and has luxuriated in $284 million in donations from Microsoft, its executives, its employees and its investors since 1990.
When Microsoft options went underwater in 2000, however, so did the local economy. Seattle and Washington state sank into recession in early 2001, three months ahead of the rest of the nation. Even now, 21/2 years later, the economy still shows few signs of recovery. The state unemployment rate in June was 7.7 percent, third highest in the country.
Playing the Numbers
During the boom, nearly every full-time Microsoft employee set up a computer spreadsheet that, with the touch of one key, displayed a real-time accounting of his stock-option fortune.
Many employees fantasized about their "number," a hypothetical stock price that would make them forever rich.
"When I hit my number, there was this euphoria," remembered Randall Thatcher, who had risen in the company to a travel-weary international marketing manager. "We had more money than we ever thought we would have in our life."
Thatcher quit in 1997, as soon as his last options vested. (If he had stayed another two years, he said with a deep sigh, he would have tripled his fortune.)
With his wife, he took off and traveled around the world for a year. During that trip, which included a long stay in Burma, one of the poorest countries in the world, Thatcher was often blue.
"It was hard to reconcile the inequity of having tons of money and walking through squalor," he said.
Like Thatcher, a middle-class Mormon from the suburbs of Salt Lake City, most Microsoft workers grew up as distant strangers to serious money. They tended to be bright, hard working and goal oriented, but when they suddenly got rich, many of them became disoriented.
Local psychologists who have treated some of these people say it was -- and is -- common for them to be suspicious in relationships, fearing that they are being loved for their money. They sometimes also lord their wealth over lovers, relatives and friends.
"The moneyed partner can develop a sense of entitlement," a Seattle psychologist said. "They don't have to treat others as well or as politely as they are treated. The money gets others to put up with them."
There have been no systematic studies of how wealth has affected the options generation at Microsoft. But Stephen Goldbart, a San Francisco psychologist, has been treating and conducting seminars for thousands of the high-tech rich for eight years. He is co-founder of the Money, Meaning & Choices Institute, which coined the term "sudden wealth syndrome" and has worked with many people from Microsoft.
"Money creates all kinds of challenges for these people with their parents, siblings and friends," Goldbart said. "Many techies are not used to this emotional stuff, and it causes many of them to withdraw. They say, 'I'll just stay away from people.' " Typically, he said, these people go through a "fun and games period," a year or so of buying big-ticket toys and taking fancy vacations. Some people, he added, never move beyond narcissistic self-involvement with their money, but most do.
Here in Seattle, an organization created by the newly rich, called Social Venture Partners, has worked with hundreds of Microsoft people, teaching them how to give away money and sort out their values.
Each member commits to a minimum annual contribution of $5,500 for at least two years to join, and the organization strongly encourages members to work long hours with small local charities. Social Venture Partners is sometimes described as post-graduate training in philanthropy.
"Things and money can come to define you, even if you don't want it to happen," said Paul Shoemaker, executive director of the group and a former Microsoft employee who says he got semi-rich on options. "It takes a conscious choice to keep your feet on the ground."
Shoemaker said that most of the people who come to Social Venture Partners are worth from $5 million to $15 million.
Defined by Money
Even before he cashed out his Microsoft options in 2001, Gideon Rosenblatt felt himself sinking into a world defined by his money and what it could buy.
"We bought a big house in the suburbs and started a big remodeling process," said Rosenblatt, who met his wife, C.J., when they were both working at Microsoft. "We got pulled in by what we saw some of our friends doing."
Rosenblatt and his wife -- they have two boys, ages 2 and 4 -- became increasingly uncomfortable as their bank account grew.
"We felt like this money was an incredible gift -- a really weird historical anomaly -- and we didn't want to be stupid and squander it," said Rosenblatt, 40, who started at Microsoft in 1991.
Having sorted out what he wanted from his money, Rosenblatt quit his Microsoft job. At a drastically lower salary, he became executive director of One/Northwest, a nonprofit online networking group that links together 60,000 environmental activists in the region.
As for the suburban house, he and his wife decided they had better things to do than to make design decisions about how to maximize their views of Puget Sound. So, they sold the big house at a loss and bought a 2,000-square-foot, viewless house in a middle-class Seattle neighborhood. "We decided our top job was raising two great kids," Rosenblatt said.
He and his wife met with financial advisers and spent many hours writing a family credo -- a one-page set of "Rosenblatt family values." It does not say a single word about money. Instead, it talks about "hard work," "passion" and "leaving the world a better place than you found it."
To that end, Rosenblatt said he and his wife have decided to limit their sons' inheritance. The couple is now deciding how much to give to philanthropy and how much to leave for their sons.
"We definitely want our kids to work and not just at a dilettante level," he said. "We want them to have to struggle."
Like nearly everyone interviewed for this story, Rosenblatt said that in trying to understand his own values, Bill Gates has been an inspiring role model. Through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (news - web sites), with assets of $24 billion, Gates is giving away hundreds of millions of dollars a year to improve health conditions in the developing world.
"I respect him and his discipline about philanthropy," Rosenblatt said.
There is no way of knowing exactly how much money Microsoft millionaires are giving away. But there are many indications that it is a lot. Since the late 1990s, per-capita giving to greater Seattle's United Way campaign has led the nation. In a 2001 ranking of all American cities, Seattle ranked a close second, behind New York, in total annual contributions to the United Way.
C.J. Rosenblatt, incidentally, still works part time in the marketing department at Microsoft.
In the post-boom argot of company veterans, she is a "volunteer," which is to say that her salary is not the point.
"I think of working at Microsoft now as my nonprofit," said C.J. Rosenblatt, who adds that she will sort out a more appropriate philanthropy when her sons get a little older. "It is the stuff I do so my brain doesn't develop cobwebs."
Randall Thatcher said he would go back to work, but only if he absolutely had no choice.
Since he left Microsoft, he and his wife have been careful not to overspend. They left the company with a smaller nest egg than many early retirees -- they say it is about $2 million. They own one car, a hot-pink 1979 Volkswagen beetle. He rarely buys new clothes and gets around town on a 1956 Vespa.
"We are not crazy, mad rich," Shari Thatcher said. "We are beer-and-pretzels rich."
Their friends, particularly people still working at Microsoft, sometimes ask them if they are bored. They say no, but they do worry.
"You hope, with all the discretionary time, that you don't completely waste it," Randall Thatcher said. "Some days I do. Most days I don't."
Rhapsody quietly stomps iTMS into the dirt.
While Apple users like to boast that the iTunes Music Store has had 5 million songs downloaded since it's April launch,
Rhapsody has quietly beaten those sales figures to a pulp, by having 11 million tunes purchased during the month of June.
Rhapsody says CD burning doubled since price drop
LOS ANGELES, July 1 (Reuters) - Listen.com on Tuesday said it has seen a nearly 100 percent increase in CD burning among subscribers to its Rhapsody online music service since cutting its fee to 79 cents from 99 cents per track.
Rhapsody would not disclose how many tracks were actually burned in June, but said that on-demand streaming has increased 45 percent to more than 11 million songs, or more than 350,000 songs per day, in June.
Listen.com said the brisk activity for its service as well as Apple Computer Inc.'s new music service, which has sold more than 5 million songs, show that consumers are willing to pay for music online if services are compelling.
Digital media company RealNetworks Inc. announced its acquisition of Rhapsody-developer Listen.com for $36 million in April and in late May began distributing Rhapsody service with the new 79 cent CD burn pricing.
At the same time, Real said it would end its distribution deal with MusicNet but would remain a partner and technology provider for the service, launched over a year ago by Real and three major music labels: AOL Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Music, Bertelsmann AG and EMI Group Plc.
Listen.com on Tuesday said there has been a significant increase in the number of consumers signing up for Rhapsody and corresponding growth in consumers' use of the service in the month since Real began distributing Rhapsody.
Rhapsody is considered by critics to be among the easiest-to-use subscription services, but has never released subscriber numbers. Analysts have estimated its subscribers total less than 100,000.
Rhapsody quietly stomps iTMS into the dirt.
While Apple users like to boast that the iTunes Music Store has had 5 million songs downloaded since it's April launch,
Rhapsody has quietly beaten those sales figures to a pulp, by having 11 million tunes purchased during the month of June.
Rhapsody says CD burning doubled since price drop
LOS ANGELES, July 1 (Reuters) - Listen.com on Tuesday said it has seen a nearly 100 percent increase in CD burning among subscribers to its Rhapsody online music service since cutting its fee to 79 cents from 99 cents per track.
Rhapsody would not disclose how many tracks were actually burned in June, but said that on-demand streaming has increased 45 percent to more than 11 million songs, or more than 350,000 songs per day, in June.
Listen.com said the brisk activity for its service as well as Apple Computer Inc.'s new music service, which has sold more than 5 million songs, show that consumers are willing to pay for music online if services are compelling.
Digital media company RealNetworks Inc. announced its acquisition of Rhapsody-developer Listen.com for $36 million in April and in late May began distributing Rhapsody service with the new 79 cent CD burn pricing.
At the same time, Real said it would end its distribution deal with MusicNet but would remain a partner and technology provider for the service, launched over a year ago by Real and three major music labels: AOL Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Music, Bertelsmann AG and EMI Group Plc.
Listen.com on Tuesday said there has been a significant increase in the number of consumers signing up for Rhapsody and corresponding growth in consumers' use of the service in the month since Real began distributing Rhapsody.
Rhapsody is considered by critics to be among the easiest-to-use subscription services, but has never released subscriber numbers. Analysts have estimated its subscribers total less than 100,000.
Great Link Duke!
Excellent quality, instant on, streaming video on 64 Bit Common Language Runtime & .NET Framework.
Thanks,
$$$$ ACE $$$$
72 months & counting...
"Pro Tools 6.1, released more than a mopnth ago took care of bugs"
Z,
SO... Would those be the same bugs you said didn't exist earlier?
The supposedly "unsubstantiated" issues, as you said?
OR, Are you saying it took Apple 'til June of 2003 to fix issues it caused with the release of the G4 in 1999/2000?
Figure out the difference between Digi 001, Digi 002 & Pro Tools HD yet?
[Suppressed Sound Link]
Over 1000 documented G4-ProTools issues:
"Your Degidesign claims are also unsubstantiated."
Hmmm.. Perhaps you better learn to read, Z. Start with digidesign's website (better learn to spell "digidesign" while you're at it.) When you get done reading the complaints there, Use a good search engine like Google, And try "G4" "issues" "ProTools" , you'll come up with over 1000 hits. THEN, go learn the difference between Digi001 & ProTools HD, which you've already shown your lack of understanding of a difference elsewhere.
Typical Z-response:
1. See something remotely disparaging to Apple.
2.Deny existence of issue.
3.Post FUD laying blame elsewhere.
4. Have rear end hand to him faster than liposuction outpatient.
5.Open Mouth, insert foot.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22Pro+Tools%22+%22issues%22+%22G....
"Digidesign has alerted ProTools Users to a compatibility issue between the 002, OS X and SCSI.
Under OS X the 002 does not support use of SCSI devices. Digidesign says that this 'appears to be an issue with OS X'. Most ProTools LE users are running internal IDE or FireWire drives, and will not encounter this problem.
[Suppressed Sound Link]
There is no information about whether this compatibility issue will be addressed in the future."
***********************************************************
1) UPGRADES: Generally speaking, there are three pieces of hardware that cause the most difficulty when upgrading to a new G4:
a. D24 cards must be checked for G4 compatibility.
b. PCI Farm cards must have PCI Matchmaker Rev. QC or later.
c. PCI Expansion Chassis often need to be updated to be 3.3V compatible.
There are many more issues of which you should be aware before buying that speedy new G4. Please contact Cutting Edge for a consultation after checking this link: http://www.digidesign.com/compato/pt24g4agp.html
2) TIMELINE INSERTION FOLLOWS PLAYBACK: Another one I get tons of calls about. Symptom: You start playback at some point in a session. When you stop playback the cursor jumps to the current playhead location. This is what some people refer to as “Tape Deck” mode. Cure: Unfortunately, you have to dig into preferences for this one. Go to the SETUPS MENU. Select PREFERENCES from the bottom of the list. Go to the OPERATION page. Uncheck TIMELINE INSERTION FOLLOWS PLAYBACK at the top of the page.
3) LINK EDIT AND TIMELINE SELECTION: I get more calls about this than just about any other ProTools 5 problem. Symptom: You make a selection in the edit window, but the playhead starts playing from what seems like an arbitrary point in the session. Solution: Highlight the little button below the “GRID” edit mode button in the upper left corner of the EDIT WINDOW. It looks sort of like this: •/ /• = çØ. The keyboard shortcut is ( SHIFT + / ), and you can also access this setting in the OPERATIONS MENU.
4) CANT CHANGE AUTOMATION MODE: Symptom: The automation mode selector is grayed out. Cure: Typically one of two solutions. Go to the AUTOMATION ENABLE window. This window can be accessed from the WINDOWS MENU. Uncheck AUTO SUSPEND. The other thing to check is whether the track is RECORD ENABLED. I know, it’s totally obvious…
5) MY HUI/MOTORMIX KEEPS LOSING COMMUNCATION WITH PROTOOLS: Symptom: HUI is receiving information from ProTools. ProTools is not responding to HUI. Every 15 seconds or so, ProTools pops up a message saying, “ProTools is unable to communicate with HUI. Please power cycle blah blah blah blah…” Cure: Go to the MIDI MENU. Select INPUT DEVICES… Make sure the HUI is checked as an input device. The ins and outs of OMS and MIDI can be unexpectedly complex. Please call if you have any problems.
6) HOW DO I MAKE MY KEYDISKS WORK WITH MY USB FLOPPY DRIVE?: Symptom: After installing a plug-in, you launch ProTools. The standard authorization dialog pops up. You try to authorize by putting your keydisk in your USB floppy drive but the authorizer doesn’t recognize the disk. Cure: Make sure you have a Digidesign approved USB floppy drive. If you aren’t sure, check this link: http://www.digidesign.com/compato/pt24g4agp.html or call Cutting Edge. You will need the appropriate driver(s) for your drive as well as the USB FLOPPY ENABLER extension. Drivers can be downloaded from this page: http://www.digidesign.com/download/ptutil.html.
7) MY SYSTEM WON’T BOUNCE TO DISK: Symptom: You try to bounce a mix to disk but ProTools gives you one of a variety of errors. Cure: Set the DAE PLAYBACK BUFFER SIZE to at least 2. Go to the Apple MEMORY CONTROL PANEL and set the disk cache to 512k. Make sure there are no plug-in windows open in ProTools.
8) THE DREADED –6042 ERROR: Symptom: When trying to play back an average size session, ProTools gives the error “PCI Bus is to busy for ProTools to communicate reliably with the audio hardware blah blah blah…” Cure: Make sure you are using the appropriate SCSI card for your system. If you aren’t sure check this link: http://www.digidesign.com/compato/ or call Cutting Edge. If your card is the appropriate card, make sure the settings for the card’s control panel are set properly. If you have an ATTO card, you should be running firmware 1.4.4 and Express Pro-Tools version 2.3.2 with the PCI Burst Rate set to 32 bytes. If this looks like Sanskrit to you please call.
9) THE SLIGHTLY LESS DREADED –9073 ERROR: Symptom: When attempting to play a session, ProTools gives the error “Your disk is too slow or too fragmented yada yada yada…” Cure: Back up all of the data off the drive. (You do this on a regular basis anyway, right?) Reinitialize the drive using the appropriate utility: Hard Disk Toolkit on older PT systems. ATTO Express Pro-Tools 2.3.2 on G4s. Copy the data back and try again. If you still get the –9073 error, MAKE SURE THE DRIVE IS NOT TOO FULL! Even a totally optimized drive will have problems if it is more than (insert arbitrary percentage like 75%) full.
10) MY SYSTEM TAKES FOREVER TO DROP INTO RECORD: Symptom: You just bought a brand new Mix++++ system. Upon taking it home you promptly launch a new session and try to record across 64 tracks. Hey, why not? Much to your dismay it takes about 10 seconds for ProTools to actually start recording. Cure: Go to the SETUPS MENU. Select PREFERENCES. Go to the OPERATION PAGE. Set the OPEN ENDED RECORD ALLOCATION to the minimum acceptable time for your situation. (I.E. The maximum time you will need for any single record pass. Maybe 10 minutes for a song, 60 minutes for a TV show, etc.)
11) (OK, my list goes to eleven!) PROTOOLS WON’T RECOGNIZE MY NEW INTERFACE: Symptom: You’ve just added a new 888, 882, 1622, ADAT Bridge, Apogee, etc. When you launch ProTools and go to the SETUPS MENU, then HARDWARE… the new interface doesn’t show up. Cure: Go to the SETUPS MENU, then select PLAYBACK ENGINE. Now you should be able to choose the appropriate card (don’t forget about port A and port B on newer TDM cards) and specify the new interface. Also, don’t forget to attach that little BNC cable from the SLAVECLOCK OUT of your first interface to SLAVECLOCK IN on the subsequent interfaces. Once again, call if you have any questions.
******************************************************
Interesting new integrated IE settings for Messenger.
I thought this was interesting, since this wasn't there prior to the last automatic system update. From the Tools Menu in IE, there's now launch tabs for MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, Sun Java Console, an instant "Define" Dictionary link, & a link to Encarta. These weren't there when I cleaned cookies 2 days ago... Pretty Cool.
P.S. Sam Phillips, the man who discovered the King, & ran the legendary Sun Recording Studios passed on today.
A moment of silence in honor of Sam....
Thank God Les Paul is still with us.
Rock On, Sam. We'll miss you.
$$$ACE$$$
Those numbers are correct. the slowest P4's running Logic whups G5.
It get even more embarrassing for the G5 when you move away from a third tier "also-ran" like eMagic Logic,
to a First-tier audio program like Nuendo, or Cubase SX (or even VST-24).
Even home version "toys" like Cakewalk, chew & spit out Logic.
Expect the standard 6 month wait from Apple for Digidesign's Pro Tools to run correctly on a G5.
Apple botched the G4's roll out so badly when it came to Pro Tools,
that it wasn't even possible to run until Apple made a batch of patches.
"G5 doesn't measure up to Apple's claims in our Logic tests
:: Posted by Graeme
:: Posted on Wednesday, July 2, 2003 at 11:44:30 AM
MusicOnMac.com is another music-oriented Mac website debating Apple's G5 versus Pentium tests, but, like MacMusic.org, doesn't provide any test results to challenge Apple's claims. I emailed the webmaster at MacMusic.org and commented that I thought a "Cubase versus Cubase" or "Logic versus Logic" test would have been a lot more meaningful. So I did one.
On its website, in the PDF on G5 performance, Apple cites the following figures:
1.6 GHz G5 = 52 tracks
1.8 GHz G5 = 59 tracks
...configured with five plug-ins per track: FatEQ, SilverCompressor, Autofilter and (an unspecified) Reverb.
I ran the latest version of Logic for Windows (5.5) on a stock HP ZT1175 portable, with a 1.4 GHz Portable Pentium 4 (yes, one of the lowest performing members of the Pentium 4 family) and configured Logic identically to Apple's specs, with exactly the same plug-ins, all of which are present in the Windows version of Logic. Where there was some doubt, I weighed the test AGAINST the PC. For example, I used stereo wave samples on every track (a mix of mono and stereo tracks would perform better), each with five plugins applied. I used the Silver Reverb for the reverb effects, plus the other four Apple-specified plugins on EVERY track. The computer had only the stock configuration of RAM (256MB) and was running Windows XP, as opposed to the slimmer but flakier Windows 9x. I even used the slower but more robust NTFS file system.
The result? Believe it or not, this 1.4 GHz P4 -- a machine running at less than HALF the speed of the Dell machine Apple soundly whupped in its tests -- beats BOTH the single-processor G5s! It supports at least 60 tracks. (In its test, Apple says a 3 GHz Dell manages only 35 tracks, but was using Cubase.)
I stopped the test at 60 tracks, with 80% CPU utilization. I did not disable anti-virus software (I may use a PC for music sequencing, but I'm not completely nuts!), nor did I disable other tasks running in the background or specially configure the PC in any way.
Sure, I could I have pushed it further, but the point has been made: the cheapest PCs on the market display more muscle in Emagic Logic than Apple's fastest single-processor G5s, according to Apple's own published benchmarks! At least in this test, the G5 is NOT performing as well as Apple suggests. I challenge anyone to prove otherwise.
RE: Microsoft signs Mexican cable operators SPOT THE SYNERGY
The television division signs up three cable operators in Mexico to license its software as it builds momentum for its trials in the U.S. market.
Microsoft's television division is licensing its software to major cable operators in Mexico as it builds momentum for its tests in the United States.
Microsoft TV Division will announce Tuesday that it is signing three of the largest cable operators in Mexico to use its software in set-top boxes to be installed in subscribers' homes. The cable companies have already begun sending out boxes with Microsoft's TV software, such as its interactive program guide (IPG), its Foundation Edition software and Microsoft TV Advanced.
When the installations are complete, Microsoft TV software is expected to be in about 725,000 boxes by the end of 2004. The deals are nonexclusive, multiyear agreements, and Microsoft has not invested in any of these operators, according to Ed Graczyk, a director of marketing at Microsoft TV Division.
The announcements are a good sign that Microsoft's change in television software strategy--from promoting advanced television software platforms to simpler ones--is gaining an audience among fickle cable operators. But analysts say the Mexican market is still "tier 2," compared with the larger and more elusive U.S. market.
"Mexico is a good-size market, but it's more competitive in the United States for a reason," said Aditya Kishore, an analyst with research firm The Yankee Group. "The United States is make or break for them, and that's where they need to focus."
Microsoft started off with more advanced television software for set-top boxes, allowing cable subscribers to access e-mail, surf the Web and chat. But it scaled back the features of its software as cable operators--the main customers for television software--decided to go with less advanced and less equipped set-top boxes.
"We had to follow the market backward," Graczyk said.
Microsoft now has an IPG application, which offers detailed TV listings, as well as Foundation Edition software, which comes with an IPG and application environment for features such as video on demand and advanced parental screening.
Cablevision Mexico plans to use Microsoft's IPG and Foundation Edition in all its 450,000 set-top boxes by the end of 2004. Cablevision Monterrey and Megacable will use the software giant's IPG and Microsoft TV Advanced software. Cablevision Monterrey plans to install the software for its 100,000 subscribers, and Megacable plans to install the software for 175,000 of its 470,000 subscribers by the end of 2004.
Mexico's cable consortium PCTV and Costa Rica's Cabletica have also signed on to use Microsoft's TV software on their cable networks, but neither has begun testing the software yet.
In the United States, Comcast will begin testing Microsoft's IPG software in Seattle in the fall, and Time Warner Cable, a division of AOL Time Warner, will perform trials of the same software in Beaumont, Texas. Those cable companies--the two biggest in the United States--will use Motorola DCT2000 set-top boxes for the tests."
HMMMM. What a coincidence. That Gates fellow is pretty shrewd
Bill Gates invests in Mexico's Grupo Televisa
WASHINGTON, July 30 (Reuters) - U.S. software billionaire Bill Gates disclosed on Wednesday that he holds 7 percent of Grupo Televisa SA de CV (MEX:TLEVISAA) (NYSE:TV), Mexico's No. 1 media group.
The co-founder of Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) held 6.3 million of Televisa's Global Depositary Shares as of July 16, according to a passive investment filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
It said 4.9 million shares, or 5.3 percent of Grupo Televisa, were held by his investment fund, Cascade Investment LLC, while the rest were held by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a charitable trust named after him and his wife.
Anyone who has ever had any dealings with the television and cable providers for our neighbors to the south will tell you the same thing, Mexico's televisa industry is on the cutting edge when it comes to transmission technology.
As Mexico goes, so goes the world in the following 3-4 year time frame window.
They were first to go digital with their signal, first to go digital with their transmission source, first to ditch the old 1 inch analog reels and analog Beta SP, in favor of Digibeta-SP as the preferred format for content source, and first to institute AVID Unity stations as a defacto-standard for content ingest services.
Gates' investment, coupled with the adoption of MSFT software in the 3 largest cable providers is a huge signal that MSFT has won in this field, and competitors such as Liberty Media will soon be raising the white flag.
NICE MOVE, Mr. Gates![Suppressed Sound Link]
$$$ ACE $$$
With apologies to Dukey...
Bye Bye Bob. Thanks for the memories.
[Suppressed Sound Link]
There's no midi files on THIS board,
Sound bytes are .wav files.
A midi file would be played by your computer's internal wavetable synth,
(sounding like a little casio keyboard, for example.)
And it's nice to see the boys at MSFT were expedient with their Direct X patch!
$$$ace$$$
Duke, Gotcha...
mea culpa, & Toto too...
$$$Ace$$$
Gartner Warns on Deploying Linux
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nf/20030725/bs_nf/21972
Jay Wrolstad, www.NewsFactor.com
"With the legal wrangling over SCO Groups claims to Linux (news - web sites) source code escalating, the Gartner Group is urging businesses to take a cautious approach to future Linux deployments, and suggests taking a closer look at Unix and Microsoft applications until the case is decided.
This week SCO said it obtained copyright registrations for Unix System V source code, in effect bolstering claims that its intellectual property rights from UnixWare cover the Linux version 2.4 kernel and later versions.
SCO has been in a legal battle with IBM since March, claiming that Linux contains Unix System V source code and calling Linux an unauthorized derivative of Unix. Several commercial Linux users, including Red Hat and SuSE , have disputed the need for the licenses
Time to Negotiate
At the same time, SCO offered UnixWare licenses to enterprises that use Linux 2.4 and later and said it will not go after Linux customers for past copyright violations if they buy a UnixWare license. Those that do not ante up, however, face the risk of being taken to court.
While SCO has not offered a price, Gartner estimates that a single unit license of UnixWare could cost from $500 to $700 per server, with discounts for large deployments. Some 1,500 Fortune 1000 companies were contacted by SCO in May and advised that they may face legal action for unauthorized use of SCOs intellectual property.
Gartner recommends that businesses using Linux contact SCO to discuss its claims, compensation requirements and their potential future liability. While the actions by SCO are pending, companies should take a go-slow approach to Linux in mission-critical production systems, and instead, investigate whether Unix or Windows can deliver the functions provided through of Linux deployments.
No Need to Cave in, Analyst Says
Analysts are divided in their opinions regarding this advice, with Aberdeen Groups Bill Claybrook telling NewsFactor that the users he has spoken with continue to deploy Linux despite the legal threats. Until the suit against IBM is settled, nothing has changed, and it may not go to court until 2005, Claybrook told NewsFactor. Linux is not going to disappear, and if the code has to be rewritten it will be done quickly. Consequently, Claybrook advises companies to go head with Linux deployments, although he suggests that those companies that are happy with Microsoft and Unix should stick with what they have. According to Claybrook, Gartner is taking a conservative approach to the situation because the companys business is based on end users and they are reluctant to tell such clients to accept the risk associated with Linux. There is too much money to be saved through deployment of Linux as opposed to Unix, even after paying any licensing fees, and most people will not wait a year or two until the lawsuit is settled, said Claybrook. As for the copyright claims, Claybrook said SCO is pursuing a blackmail tactic and using the lawsuit as a marketing tactic that smacks of blackmail.
Better Safe Than Sorry
But Yankee Group analyst Laura DiDio said enterprises must consider the potential costs of going to court versus paying a reasonable licensing fee as insurance. If the decision goes in SCOs favor, those who have not registered may have to pay licensing fees, back fees and penalties, she told NewsFactor.
Yankee Group has said all along that companies should play this by the book and should not ignore the legal ramifications, said DiDio. Her advice to customers using Linux 2.4 from IBM, or any version that might apply in this case, is to get an attorney and review their contract with the vendor to determine their vulnerability and possible indemnification. Then, a discussion with SCO should be arranged to cut a deal on the licenses. Should SCOs action succeed against a few large enterprises, says Gartner, other companies may feel forced to negotiate license agreements, thus creating hybrid open-source/proprietary software contracts.
In that case, said Gartner, the impacts on Linux would include difficulty in moving beyond appliance and infrastructure roles, breathing new life into Unix and boosting Microsoft. At the same time, Linux backers such as Red Hat and SuSE will have trouble earning server subscription fees since the total cost of ownership would rise by the cost of the SCO license fees."
Looks like the best idea is to just deploy Microsoft's OS in the first place.
JMHO
$$$$ACE$$$$
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I agree Zanny!
"My question is why is Apple a subject on this board?"
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A Company who is as insignificant as it's market share dictates, should be left out of the picture, here.
(besides, it has it's own board.)
It's only mentioned here in the context of being one of the other OS's currently available, that are currently sharing the 2.2% of the market that Microsoft doesn't already claim as it's own.
(Of course, that isn't including the propaganda bombing posts of a Zertain Pumper of said insignificant company.)
"APPLE'S MARKET SHARE IN THE BASEMENT: WHAT'S NEXT?
Three recent surveys put Apple's worldwide market share at less than 3 percent, leading analysts to once again ponder the company's fate. How bad is it? Giga Information Group says that Apple has hit a new low of just 2.6 percent market share, but RedSheriff says the figure is 2.2 percent, while OneStat.com says 1.43 percent. These figures have all come in the days since Apple launched its "Switcher" ad campaign, in which real users expound on the Macintosh's alleged simplicity and superiority over Windows. But Apple has yet to deliver any figures for Windows switchers beyond the number of users who visited the Web site, suggesting that the campaign hasn't done much to drive people to the Mac."
Yes, Quantum, very good link.
[Suppressed Sound Link]
It proves many points.
Each leading to the same conclusion: A company who's pool of customers continues to shrink every year shouldn't make excuses such as "We only want to compete in this specific secotor of the sector". That sound like that Spinal Tap denial "that the audience wasn't actually shrinking, It's just become more selective".
"With very few exceptions, large corporations are either growing or dying. So, yes, Apple needs to grow. They need new customers, not just the same core constituency."
Demographics are showing that for every "new to the Mac" switcher Apple acquires, they're losing 2 others to the Windows world, with no sign of slowing. That's NOT growth, & the numbers show this fact to be true.
"Overall PC market share covers large market segments where Apple isn’t competing — including markets where Apple doesn’t want to compete."
This has GOT to be the most inane argument ever presented. Either you compete, or you don't, As a desktop computer hardware provider, you're either in the game, or you're not.
A company living on brightly colored scraps can't afford to be that choosey.
It's better to be consistantly profitable. Ask Dell.
"Fifteen or 20 years ago, personal computers were generally only purchased and used by people who were “into” computers. Today, however, many computers are purchased for use as generic business machines, modern-day typewriters and adding machines.
PCs are used everywhere from telemarketing cubicle farms to supermarket checkout registers. The much ballyhooed “network computer” platform never emerged the way companies like Sun and Oracle had hoped (meaning “no Microsoft”), but very cheap PCs are frequently used as little more than network terminals. And Apple simply doesn’t make machines that would be good choices for extremely low-end tasks."
Hmmm... And what are a majority of those network terminal Point of Sale machines running? Windows XP Embedded.
Failure to be commercially attractive to enough of the money spending target audience can only be construed ONE way: Either you sell enough to remain profitable, or you slowly die.
I submit that not only Apple, but Sun & Gateway as well, are all doing just that... slowly dying.
Switch Campaign dubbed a failure? I'm shocked!
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Unbelievable!
I wonder how much money was wasted/spent on that campaign, only to have the market share continue to shrink, without the shrinkage ever slowing down....
Anyone know?
Duke, Your power of Total Recall is amazing.
Thank you for a factual timeline unemcumbered faulty data or selective amnesia.
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Overture CEO and Yahoo seem to differ on MSN contract
Friday , July 25, 2003 10:48 ET
SAN FRANCISCO, Jul 25, 2003 (AFX-UK via COMTEX) -- This is one for the business history books: A successful company that invariably attracts swarms of competitors reaches a point of vulnerability that ends in a decision to sell itself to one of its two major partners.
Overture Services , the pioneer of auction-bidding advertising on the Internet relies on two very big customers - Yahoo and Microsoft - to build its business. Overture has the growing network of advertisers and Yahoo and MSN provide distribution. But the emergence of Google as a competitor to Overture in 2002 lessened any leverage Overture had with its two partners, and set the leader on defense for the greater part of last two years.
It was only a matter of time before Overture would have to stop playing Switzerland. Indeed, earlier this month, Overture agreed to sell to Yahoo for $1.6 billion.
The question now is: What happens to Microsoft's MSN business? In an interview with CBS.MarketWatch.com, Overture's 39-year-old CEO Ted Meisel said that Overture will aggressively try to keep Microsoft but Meisel suggested that Yahoo's not betting on having that relationship.
Q: What was Microsoft's response to the Yahoo/Overture deal?
Ted: We talk to Microsoft every day. We've communicated to them that we're completely focused on serving them well. And, that we're better positioned to serve them well.
Q: How are you better positioned being integrated into Yahoo?
Ted: To the extent that we can accelerate product development efforts and provide Microsoft higher quality products as well as content-match services, that ultimately helps Microsoft. By virtue of operating as a separate unit we are afforded the certainty of having the largest traffic source - Yahoo - as a guaranteed partner and can integrate additional services into Yahoo's various vertical markets both in the U.S. and internationally. IN addition, we are able to operate as an independent unit and can continue to provide our current and future distribution partners with high-quality products and services.
Q: How are you going to maintain the MSN relationship? Is it worth giving MSN a higher revenue share of the traffic it provides?
Ted: We're going to be aggressive on all fronts. It's not appropriate [to discuss revenue-share strategy].
Q: To what extent does the loss of MSN business concern you?
When we announced the deal with Yahoo, Yahoo's CFO [Susan Decker] said that Yahoo could justify this acquisition based on this network and its traffic alone. The deal makes sense without the MSN partner network. To Overture, the partner network is critical. To Yahoo, it's a highly diversified company, and I would guess that Terry [Yahoo CEO] would tell you that if any one thing didn't work, it wouldn't be the end of the world. But I'll be sweating the success of the partner network.
Q: Did your company seek other offers?
Ted: The only thing I'll say is we were not for sale and did not engage in an auction process.
Q: Has Microsoft approached the company with a counter offer?
Ted: I simply can't go there. No comment.
Q: Is Yahoo a better partner than Microsoft?
Ted: Yahoo is appealing because of its focus on search and importance of search. Yahoo had that focus from a consumer perspective to build a huge audience of search. The work they've done to create content in various verticals to which we think we can add value.
Q: If you lose the MSN business, what would happen to revenue per click?
Ted: We expect revenue per click to remain at its current growth rate. We think we've established our RPC and brought it to a certain level of scale. In addition, we are constantly improving our matching technologies - that is, how searches get matched to advertisers' listings - that will increase the number of leads to advertisers.
Q: Revenue per click rose to 40 cents in the second quarter, what drove that higher and where do you see that going by the end of the year?
Ted: It was driven higher by the same things in general: advertisers realizing value from clicks, from the leads, being able to measure that value. There was more competition [from adding more advertisers]. We said 40 to 42 cents previously on a worldwide basis. The war in the first quarter skewed the mix of searches to be more about information and less about commerce. On average, revenue per rises 1 to 2 cents per quarter. We don't believe that it will grow at the same rate in the second half of this year because we're accelerating our efforts to obtain additional and multi-word search listings that have typically been searched less frequently. As a result, we'll get
Q: How does integrating with Yahoo lift that revenue per click? Or, do you feel that volume will make up for steady revenue-per-click rates?
Ted: I don't know that it does. Our belief is that we saw opportunities in additional properties - Europe and Asia. Together we saw the upside opportunity in revenue per click regardless of whether we're working together or not. We saw opportunities in verticals. One of the ways we drive revenue per click is accelerating new product development to make it easier for advertisers to understand their product, have a captive source, make it easier for them to plan on sales per click.
Q: Traffic acquisition costs, or TAC, fell slightly to 63.7 percent in the second quarter from 64 percent in the first quarter. What's the trend in TAC?
Ted: The trend has been increasing because the rate at which we and other partners have been increasing it. I would expect that continue in the foreseeable future. That 64 percent is a blended rate (includes network traffic that doesn't carry TAC). I don't expect that we would be reducing revenue share to partners. I think it's generally at a fair level. Overture will be very focused on the revenue line. And [as part of Yahoo], we could afford to share more with partners.
I know, Because...
She said so.
[Suppressed Sound Link]
There'z only one nincompoop.
I bet Sony hope to get something out of that InTrust suit
Because they're sure gonna need it.
[Suppressed Sound Link]
SONY PROFIT FALLS 98 PERCENT
Lower sales of electronics, video games, music and movies
TOKYO, July 24 — Japanese electronics and entertainment giant Sony Corp. reported a 98 percent decline in profit for the April-June quarter as sales faltered in key businesses such as electronics, video games, movies and music.
Sony said Thursday it earned 1.1 billion yen ($9 million) in the first quarter of its fiscal year, down from 57.2 billion yen for the same period last year.
Sales for the Tokyo-based company fell 6.9 percent to 1.6 trillion yen ($13.5 billion) from 1.7 trillion yen.
Sony set off a plunge in Tokyo share prices in April after it reported a loss in the final quarter of fiscal 2002, setting off worries about the state of Japanese industry, which has been struggling to cut costs and switch strategies amid competition from Asian rivals.
Sony has pledged to turn itself around by investing in computer chip production and other research to offer broadband network gadgets and cutting-edge products that rivals can’t easily imitate at lower prices.
But analysts say Sony may have fallen behind in popular products including flat-panel TVs and DVD recorders. Sales of its Vaio computers are lagging.
Sony officials acknowledge that fiscal 2002 profits were partly a fluke, bolstered by the blockbuster movie “Spider-Man.” Sony’s profits for the fiscal year ended March 31 totaled 115.5 billion yen ($972 million), up more than sevenfold from 15.3 billion yen in fiscal 2001.
Kazuharu Miura, analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research in Tokyo, said solid results from Sony’s restructuring efforts can’t be expected to kick in for some time. “The progress must be gradually assessed,” he said.
Nobuyuki Idei, Sony chief executive, said the latest results were weaker than the previous year but still managed to improve on the January-March quarter, when Sony lost 111 billion yen.
“In the third quarter of this fiscal year, we will begin implementation in earnest of the restructuring plan we outlined,” he said in a statement. The company is planning “exciting electronics products” in the second fiscal half, Idei said, promising solid profits by 2006.
Sony said that in its electronics business, operating profit for the latest quarter fell 73.9 percent to 12.8 billion yen ($108 million), down from 49 billion yen a year ago. Sales dipped 9.8 percent to 1.1 trillion yen ($9.2 billion) from 1.2 trillion yen as TV, Vaio and audio equipment sales declined, the company said.
Profits in the video game sector, which had been Sony’s star division with hefty profits until recently, slid 31.6 percent to 1.8 billion yen ($15 million) from 2.6 billion yen, while sales edged down 18.2 percent to 125.2 billion yen ($1 billion) from 153 billion yen.
Worldwide shipments of the PlayStation 2 game machine dropped sharply to 2.65 million units in the quarter from 4.59 million for the same period last year. Software shipments also fell.
The drop in profits in the game sector also reflects increased expenses in research and development for computer chips for future businesses, Sony said.
Sony Pictures Entertainment recorded an operating loss of 2.4 billion yen ($20 million) in the latest quarter versus an operating profit of 9.3 billion yen a year ago.
Sales in the movies unit plummeted 13 percent to 151.1 billion yen ($1.3 billion) from 173.6 billion yen.
Sony said this quarter’s “Hollywood Homicide” proved a disappointment while “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” required hefty advertising and promotion expenses.
Sony Music Entertainment reduced losses for the latest quarter to 6 billion yen ($50 million) from 10 billion yen the previous year by cutting costs in advertising and streamlining operations.
Sales in the music unit fell 8.8 percent to 117 billion yen ($985 million) from 128.3 billion yen, underscoring a shrinking global music industry battered by piracy and Net file-sharing, according to Sony.
Strong sellers included Beyonce’s “Dangerously in Love,” Evanescence’s “Fallen” and Ricky Martin’s “Almas del Silencio.”
Financial services fared better with an operating profit of 14.0 billion yen ($118 million), up 29.7 percent from 10.8 billion yen, while sales climbed 16.3 percent to 149.6 billion yen ($1.3 billion) from 128.7 billion yen.
Sony said it expects to meet its targets for the fiscal year through March 2004 of a profit of 50 billion yen ($421 million) on 7.4 trillion yen ($62 billion) sales.
Geee..Between Sony's Tanking, & Apple's losses of 40 to 60% of year-over-year business,
I'd think the tech sector was doomed,
IF NOT for MSFT posting record earnings.
$$$ACE$$$
MSFT doesn't use Linux, but...
Akami who MSFT contracts with does.
And while I won't disparage Akami as a company, seeing as the the company president was one of the on-board heroes of 9/11 who died in that Pennsylvania field, I'd be remiss not to post a link to the company's stock performance chart.
From 300 a share to less than a dollar a share, is a ride no one wants to take.
I wonder how badly AAPL's investing in AKAM @ 220 a share has affected their bottom line over the past few years.
Tulipz, you use their stuff, do you know?
http://finance.lycos.com/home/stocks/charts.asp?symbols=NASDAQ%3AAKAM&origsymbols=NASDAQ%3AAKAM&....
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$$$ACE$$$
Scarlett- Re: holding SUNW
My Condolences.
$$$ACE$$$
Tulipz, you're changing what you said earlier.
Your original quote was "(it was once the "most admired company in America")."
Yet, the link you backpedalled to, mentions ONLY "in the technology sector"
I've yet to see another company "in the technology sector" besides Dell, even make the list,
So Microsoft's status as the most admired technology company hasn't dimmed one iota.
In fact if you wish to use annual profitability as a measure of admiration of MSFT by the tech purchasing public,
It grows every year... by about 25-40%
Those are just the facts. Try not to confuse them with hearsay.
I can see you may be embarassed, but I need to know what happened so we can deal with it together.
"Lying is a behavior that both parents and caregivers find particularly troublesome. Most children will exaggerate, stretch the truth or downright fib at one point or another. It is helpful to understand that young children often lie for very different reasons than adults do. This understanding will help you prevent and cope with lying and tale telling.
Reasons for Lying
To confirm to expected behavior, avoid punishment or receive reward. A young child may realize that a concrete action such as taking a cookie is wrong and yet see no problem with denying the action.
To avoid embarrassmentand preserve self-esteem,
They don’t yet understand the difference between fact and fiction. This is very common with younger children. Their fanciful tales may be a reflection of their wishes or simply a bountiful imagination.
Prevent Lying
Avoid giving the child the opportunity or reason to lie. This may happen when you confront a child for an action you already know they did. If you catch a child with standing besides a broken vase, it is best not to say, "Did you smash my favorite vase?" Try, " I can see you broke my vase, can you tell me how it happened?"
Be a good role model and practice what you preach. A young child is not going to understand the fine line between a "white lie" and a fib. Attempt to be honest in all that you say and do.
Reacting to Lying
Try not to accelerate the lying with such statements as, "If I find out you lied about this, I am going to put you in time out." Instead encourage discussion by saying, "I don’t think that is what happened, I need you tell me what occurred so we can solve the problem."
Be sure to explain to the child in simple terms the importance of honesty. Talk about how it builds trust and social relationships.
Acknowledge the child’s feelings or the cause of the lie. "I can see you may be embarassed, but I need to know what happened so we deal with it together."
The SUNW goes down every day...
Like clockwork.
It's only documented quarterly, at earnings time.
If Scott McNeally comments tommorrow. you can bet he ain't happy.
It doesn't require a fortune teller to see that Sun Microsystems is a dying behemoth.
The only solace Scotty & Sun can find is , As bad as this quarterly fiscal report was for them, Apple's was worse.
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Tulipz, Sorry, But you're mistaken.
MSFT has NEVER been #1 on the list.
As mentioned, GE held the #1 position for 5 years. Only to be usurped by WalMart. Prior to that,Coca Cola.
This is easily found, publicly available information.
Where are you getting the faulty data?
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Most admired companies list
[Suppressed Sound Link]
2003 Most Admired Companies
1. WalMart
2. Southwest Air
3. Bershire Hathaway
4. Dell
5. GE
6. Johnson & Johnson
7. Microsoft
8.Fed Ex
9.Starbucks
10. Proctor & Gamble
2002 Most Admired Companies.
1. General Electric Co. (topping the list for the fifth year in a row.)
2. Southwest Airlines Co.
3. Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
4. Microsoft
5. Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
6. Home Depot Inc.
7. Johnson & Johnson Inc
8. FedEx Corp.
9. Citigroup Inc.
10. Intel Corp.
The most-admired companies were those that give consistent returns to shareholders, customers and employees.
Also important were strong management and good relationships with regulators, the media, nongovernmental organizations, corporate-governance watchdogs, retirees, suppliers and local communities.
Windows Media 9 & Amazon
[Suppressed Sound Link]
This weekend I purchased a CD (Symphony-Alive IV) from Amazon that won't actually be released 'til the 29th of July.
What I thought is such a neat feature,is that Amazon & Microsoft have teamed together, so that the second I clicked "BUY", and placed my order, I was able to access and listen to WMP9 streams of 11 of the CD's 21 tracks.
Not only is the sound fantastic, ( and I have audiophile-studio engineer trained ears...) the streams are instantaneous, lush & full, with no discernable buffering.
I'm not sure if only this particular release, or every CD release purchased thru Amazon has this feature, but it should!
Definitely an alliance Microsoft should expand on!
$$$ace$$$
"Streaming Content for Windows Media Player
Amazon.com offers rich media content on pages throughout our various stores. To view or listen to this content, you must have the required player designated on the respective product detail page or area of our site. If you don't already have the required player, you can download one for free.
Viewing Promotional Content
When you purchase certain items in our store, we provide you with exclusive access to promotional content such as streaming audio and video.
Each piece of promotional content related to something you purchased is listed in your Digital Library, which you can access through the "View digital orders" link in Your Account. Clicking the "Listen now" button next to the piece of content you want to play launches Windows Media Player. If you placed your order using 1-Click ordering, you will have to wait 90 minutes to play the file. For immediate access to the content, please place your order through our order form.
You can learn about any restrictions regarding promotional content by clicking the "See details" link listed with the offer on the product detail page. In many cases, the offer is available only to U.S. customers. International customers can order items but cannot view promotional content.
Some streaming files may have specific expiration dates, after which the content will no longer be available. You can find out the expiration date for a file by clicking the "See details" link listed with the offer on the product detail page.
What Is a Stream?
A stream is a digital media file that is delivered to your computer on a real-time basis from the Internet; therefore, you need an active Internet connection while listening. The file can contain music and/or video. Depending on your Internet connection, the stream may be interrupted occasionally while you are playing it. If that occurs, the file will automatically restart where it left off as soon as a new connection is made. A copy of the file is not saved on your hard drive. You must access your Amazon.com Digital Library to listen to the stream. You must also have Microsoft® Windows Media® Player installed on your computer.
What You Need to Play Windows Media Samples
If you do not have Windows Media Player, you can download the latest version at no cost. Before downloading the player, please review the following system requirements to make sure your computer is compatible with the player.
Minimum Requirements:
Microsoft Windows® 98 Second Edition, Windows 2000, Windows Millennium Edition (ME), Windows XP Home Edition, or Windows XP Professional. (Windows 95 and Windows NT 4 users: We're sorry, but your computer does not support Windows Media Player 9 Series. However, you can download Windows Media Player 6.4 at the same download location.)
233 MHz processor, such as Intel Pentium II or Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) processor
64 MB RAM
28.8 Kbps modem
100 MB of free hard disk space
16-bit sound card
256-color video card
Minimum Requirements for Pocket PC and Handheld PCs:
Windows CE version 2.11
Microsoft ActiveSync® "
Smart move, Duke!
"I read that story in that article and as you might suspect, I immediately went out and bought Microsoft."
The smartest of moves... Just some stock, or the whole company? =)
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Which is more clueless Mc Guinn or the Inquirer?
Tough call.
[Suppressed Sound Link]
"By INQUIRER staff: Saturday 19 July 2003, 17:57
A NOTICE posted on Roger McGuinn's web site said he will sue Microsoft for allegedly using four notes of the Byrds' song Eight Miles High.
According to the release, McGuinn, founder of the Byrds, will allege that the first four notes of the song are used in the closing down music for Windows XP."
Someone who's been in the music business as long as Roger McGuinn should know that his plan to sue Microsoft only falls about 13 notes short of having any chance. ASCAP, BMI. SESAC, & the Library of Congress all have the same requirement for proving plagarism... "17 notes" .
http://www.legaljungleguide.com/resourc/musician/articles/musiccopyright.htm
Needless to say, McGuinn's alledged lawsuit is "For the Byrds".
$$ACE$$
"For the April-June quarter, Microsoft earned $1.92 billion, or 18 cents a share, up 26 percent from last year's quarterly profit of $1.53 billion, or 14 cents a share.
Microsoft reported revenue of $8.07 billion, up 11 percent from $7.25 billion for the same period a year ago. "
This puts the Microsoft cash hoard at 49 BILLION dollars. (with a "B" )
Does anyone know, has any other company ever had 50 Billion in cash , on hand? Inquiring minds wanna know.
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You tell us, Bill.
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"Why is it that those who spend the most time claiming that nothing in this world exists unless the other side can provide hard data to prove it, usually have the crappiest data of their own, of all?"
I don't know Bill, Why DO YOU do that?
After all, I've yet to see a piece of info or data you've provided that hasn't been skewed in some way.
AAPL posted 40% less this quarter than they did the same quarter last year.
Hard facts agree, How come you don't?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Macintosh users, you've never been had so completely.
Who needs soup? We got Steak!
Anyone with substantial investment in MSFT did NOT want a dividend.(neither the last one, or any previous one) Buybacks & acquisitions such as the GreatPlains or Bungie acquisitions are much more preferable to dividends. P.S. Did I ever mention the recent 3 millionth copy of HALO sold @ $50. that's $150 million bucks in HALO sales alone.
Sgolds, your calculation is correct:
No matter what our 2 favorite FudMonkeys post.
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not you...THEM.
Microsoft Corp. today announced revenue of $8.07 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2003, an 11% increase over revenue of $7.25 billion for the same period in the prior year.
(Unlike our Culpertino "competition"(snicker) who had a 40% drop from the comparable quarter last year)
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Operating income for the fourth quarter came in at $2.19 billion, which included charges of $796 million primarily related to the settlement of the AOL Time Warner lawsuit. This is compared to operating income of $2.87 billion reported in the prior year period. Net income for the quarter was $1.92 billion, including $533 million in after-tax settlement charges, compared to $1.53 billion reported in the previous year, which included an after-tax charge for investment impairments of $806 million. Diluted earnings per share for the June 2003 quarter were $0.18, including an after-tax charge of $0.05 associated with the legal settlements. The prior year’s diluted earnings per share were $0.14, including an after-tax investment impairment charge of $0.07.
“In fiscal year 2003, we reported double digit revenue growth in each of our businesses. In the fourth quarter, sales came in better than expected reflecting solid corporate and consumer demand for our products,” said John Connors, chief financial officer at Microsoft. “Going into the new year, we will continue to focus on providing better customer value, growing opportunities with small and medium businesses, increasing our enterprise penetration and improving performance in our emerging businesses.”
The company also announced revenue of $32.19 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2003, a 13% increase over the $28.37 billion reported last year. Operating income was $13.22 billion, compared to $11.91 billion in the prior fiscal year. Net income for fiscal year 2003 was $9.99 billion and diluted earnings per share were $0.92, which included after-tax charges for investment impairments of $0.07, charges related to legal settlements of $0.06, and a one-time tax benefit of $0.01. For the previous year, net income and diluted earnings per share were $7.83 billion and $0.70, which included after-tax charges for investment impairments of $0.26, charges related to legal settlements of $0.04, and a gain on the sale of Expedia of $0.08.
Server Platforms had strong revenue growth of 17% compared to the fourth quarter of last year, fueled by 24% growth in Windows Server™ revenue and 34% growth in Microsoft® SQL Server™ revenue. In addition, the company reported increasing demand for enterprise editions of its core server products, as customers continue to turn to Microsoft for their mission critical workloads. In the fourth quarter, Microsoft launched the Windows Server 2003 family of products, which is already seeing strong customer adoption. Customers acquiring Microsoft server software this quarter include Cendant Corporation, VeriSign, Inc., and the United States Army.
MSN® turned in record revenue this quarter, with 25% growth over the comparable quarter in the previous year, driven by 48% growth in advertising revenue. “In the past year, we have made significant progress with both our performance based advertising and our brand advertising on the MSN network. With customers like Nestle, Visa, and Kraft, MSN is proving that it is a premier Internet location for advertisers,” said Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president of MSN. “Going forward, the MSN business will continue to focus on providing the best Internet experiences for consumers and advertisers, while maintaining our path toward profitability.”
Home and Entertainment posted stronger than expected results in the fourth quarter, with 8% revenue growth over the prior year on higher than forecasted Xbox® console sales. Since the launch of Xbox in 2001, Microsoft has sold over 9.4 million Xbox consoles worldwide, and by the end of the next fiscal year, Microsoft expects to have sold 14.5 to 16.0 million consoles. In addition, Xbox Live™ continued to gain momentum with over 500,000 subscribers worldwide participating in more than 1 million game sessions every week. There will be over 400 Xbox titles available for the 2003 holiday season, and there are several highly anticipated games coming out this fiscal year, including Halo® 2.
Business Outlook
As noted with the new compensation plan announced on July 8, 2003, Microsoft will include equity compensation expense in financial statements beginning the first quarter of fiscal year 2004. Going forward, comparable period financial statements will reflect equity compensation expenses and will be consistent to the amounts reflected in FAS 123 disclosures provided in prior quarters.
Management offers the following guidance for the quarter ending September 30, 2003:
Revenue is expected to be in the range of $7.9 billion and $8.1 billion.
Operating income is expected to be in the range of $3.0 billion and $3.1 billion, including equity compensation expense of approximately $980 million.
Diluted earnings per share are expected to be around $0.23, including after-tax equity compensation expense of approximately $0.06.
Management offers the following guidance for the full fiscal year ending June 30, 2004:
Revenue is expected to be in the range of $34.2 billion and $34.9 billion.
Operating income is expected to be in the range of $11.3 billion and $11.6 billion, including equity compensation expense of approximately $3.9 billion.
Diluted earnings per share are expected to be between $0.85 and $0.87, including after-tax equity compensation expense of approximately $0.24.
MSFT & Loudeye = iTunes using Windows Media 9 ?
Could this be true? Apple's iTunes using MSFT's WM9 ?
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Loudeye Introduces the Loudeye Media Framework(TM)
Integrates Loudeye's Applications and Services with Customers' In-House Solutions to Drive Cost Effective and Compelling Digital Media Offerings
Loudeye Corp. a leading provider of services for the management, promotion and distribution of digital media, today introduced the Loudeye Media Framework(TM), its next generation of services and solutions for companies to rapidly develop online music and video businesses with minimal time, resources and up front cash investment. Built upon Loudeye's 5+ years of digital media experience and $60 million infrastructure and technology investment, the framework offers a comprehensive, scalable and cost effective platform to integrate customers' in-house solutions with Loudeye applications and services. The Loudeye Media Framework is the single source for developing and integrating digital music purchases, music subscriptions, customized audio and video players, music and video channels, and music samples including meta data and cover art. Utilizing Microsoft Windows Media 9 Series and Digital Rights Management technology, the Loudeye Media Framework is able to deliver the highest-quality audio and video for its customers.
Customers using components of the Loudeye Media Framework include Amazon, AOL, Apple iTunes, Barnes and Noble, BMG, Borders, Buena Vista, Buy.com, Coca Cola, Columbia House, DMI, EMI, MSN and Windows Media, MUSICMATCH, MusicNet, PressPlay, Yahoo! and several domestic and international wireless content providers.
"This is a pivotal point in the development of the online music market," said Susan Kevorkian, senior analyst with IDC. "Building viable businesses will require music service providers to actively manage costs, reduce time to market, and offer compelling selections of music to attract and retain paying online music consumers. Partnerships with infrastructure providers like Loudeye can help music service providers to efficiently meet those demands."
Loudeye's Media Framework is a fully integrated solution based upon a modular architecture to address the full range of challenges customers have in managing and distributing digital media. Specifically, Loudeye's Media Framework enables customers to expand and exploit digital audio and video channels, leverage differentiated services and existing investments, eliminate the need to manage a myriad of label and studio relationships, reduce time to market and generate a higher ROI on their digital media initiatives.
"Loudeye's Media Framework provides a complete outsourced media framework for music retailers allowing them to focus on the marketing and promotion of their media assets," said Dave Fester, general manager, Windows Digital Media Division, Microsoft Corp. "Loudeye's choice of Windows Media 9 Series enables cost-effective delivery of high-quality audio and video for its customers and proven DRM to support a wide range of business models."
Here's that Link for Opteron.
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"Just to make sure your information is reliable, do you have any links showing Opterons (or anyone who has one)?"
Tom's Hardware (One of the most reputable sources for tech specs & info on the net) had one, way back in April.
"Duel of the Titans: Opteron vs. Xeon "
Hammer Time: AMD on the Attack
The mood in our labs was thick with excitement - there was barely a week to perform detailed tests on a total of four platforms. AMD had sent in a server with Dual Opteron processors for testing with little time to spare before launch. And it quickly became clear who its rival would be: an Intel Dual Xeon, the 3 GHz version. This article describes the results from our duelling test systems.
We had to take an entirely new approach to test the 64-bit architecture of the Opteron both as a server and as a workstation. We used the brand new Suse Linux Enterprise Server 8 (SLES) with its latest kernel 2.4.19. A total of 30 server and workstation benchmarks were used in this review to fathom the performance of AMD's new Opteron processor.
In case you missed the reams and reams of anticipation on this topic: Opteron CPUs are all 64-bit CPUs that can also carry out conventional 32-bit x86 code natively. You might remember this feature as "x86-64", but from now on it is called "AMD64". There is an important difference to Intel's 64-bit processor Itanium and its "IA64" architecture, which is merely able to slowly emulate the myriads of 32-bit software titles we all use today. In addition, AMD's Opteron is the first x86 CPU that features an integrated dual-DDR333 memory interface, allowing dedicated memory for each Opteron processor in multi-Opteron systems as well as very low latency for memory accesses. Finally, AMD equipped Opteron with three Hypertransport Channels that act as the connection between the outside world as well as internal components of the CPU.
It's been so long coming that you just might not believe it is here, yet. So, in order to give you a real first look at Opteron, as epitomized by the server system in the THG lab, we've created a short video clip for you to download.
It'll give you a real flavor of what we've been dealing with, and it should satisfy the most ardent AMD fans that have been anticipating the arrival of Opteron. In order to make the video quality nearly optimal in relationship to the data rate, the video was encoded in MPEG-4 format, just like previous THG videos, and compressed using a ZIP packer.
64 Bit: For Whom, and When?
With desktop applications, 2 GB is usually rather sufficient, especially since operating systems such as Windows XP only allow 2 GB for applications in the logical address space.
Typical applications that are based on 64-bit technology are large databases and complicated CAD programs. One of the benefits of 64-bit architecture for commercial applications lies in the direct use of a large address space. While the standard 32-bit system can address up to 4 GB, with 64-bit you can access up to 16 TB, at least. Large databases can already reach sizes of far beyond 4 GB today.
In order to break the 4 GB barrier on 32-bit system as well, Windows 2000/XP use a few tricks. With the help of the Physical Address Extension (PAE) as well as Enterprise Memory Architecture Windows 2000/XP can allow applications to address up to 8 GB (Advanced Server) or even 64 GB of physical memory (Data Center Server). However, these solutions are not very fast, as they use a technique similar to what some of you might remember from the good old 16-bit days, called 'EMS-memory'. On top of that, 64 GB is the final limit for 32-bit processors. Applications that require quick access to databases larger than 4 GB or access to databases larger than 64 GB cannot do without 64-bit systems.
The business environment is growing, so more and more companies are depending on central computer systems that work with powerful databases and huge quantities of data. Some examples are CRM and billing systems from telecommunications companies, and high-speed Web servers. In all of these cases, the switch to 64-bit technology will ensure significantly better scalability.
Test Setup and Details
AMD Processors (Socket 940)
n/a FSB Dual DDR 333 (166 MHz) Opteron 1.8 GHz (1800 MHz / 128/1024 kB)
AMD Processors (Socket A)
166 MHz FSB (DUAL DDR333) Athlon XP 3000+ (2166 MHz 128/512 kB)
Athlon XP 2800+ (2083 MHz 128/512 kB)
Athlon XP 2500+ (1833 MHz 128/512 kB)
166 MHz FSB (DUAL DDR333) Athlon XP 2700+ (2166 MHz 128/256 kB)
133 MHz FSB (DUAL DDR266) Athlon XP 2600+ (2133 MHz 128/256 kB)
Athlon XP 2400+ (2000 MHz 128/256 kB)
Intel Processors (Socket 604)
133 MHz FSB (Dual DDR266) HT Xeon 3.06 GHz (3066 MHz 12-8/512 kB)
Intel Processors (Socket 603)
100 MHz FSB (Dual RD PC800) HT Xeon 2.8 GHz (2800 MHz 12-8/512 kB)
Intel Processors (Socket 478)
200 MHz FSB (Dual DDR400) HT Pentium 4 3.00 GHz (3000 MHz 12-8/512 kB)
133 MHz FSB (Dual DDR333) HT
133 MHz FSB (RD PC1066) HT Pentium 4 3.06 GHz (3066 MHz 12-8/512 kB)
133 MHz FSB (Dual DDR333) Pentium 4 2.80 GHz (2800 MHz 12-8/512 kB)
Pentium 4 2.66 GHz (2800 MHz 12-8/512 kB)
Pentium 4 2.53 GHz (2533 MHz 12-8/512 kB)
Memory
PC 1066 (533 MHz) 2 x 256 MB / 32ns / 16 Bit (Kingston)
DDR400 (200 MHz) 2 x 256 MB / 5ns / 64 Bit (Corsair)
PC 800 (400 MHz) 4 x 256 MB / 45ns / 16 Bit (Infineon)
DDR333 (166 MHz) ECC, REG. 4 x 512 MB / 6ns / 64 Bit (Infineon)
DDR266 (133 MHz) ECC, REG 2 x 256 MB /
Motherboard
Intel 850E Asus P4T533-C Rev: 1.03
Bios: 1010 BETA 001 (1/20/2003)
Nvidia nForce2 Asus A7N8X Rev: 1.03
Bios: 1002 Beta 004
Intel 875 Asus P4C800 Rev: 1.03
Bios: 1003 Beta 3
Intel 860 MSI MS-6508 Rev: 1
Bios:
Intel 7505 Intel SE7505VB2 Rev: unknown
Bios:
Common Hardware
Graphics Card ATI Radeon 9700 Pro
Memory: 128 MB DDR-SDRAM
Memory Clock: 620 MHz (256 Bit)
Chip Clock: 325 MHz
Hard Drive 40 GB, 6L040J2 , Maxtor
UDMA100, 7200 rpm, 2 MB Cache
Network D-Link DFE-530TX (10/100 Mbit)
CDROM Asus 52x
Drivers
Intel Chipset V 5.00.1009
Intel IAA V 2.3.0.2160
Nvidia nForce Asus V1.16
Graphics Driver CATALYSTTM 3.2 Version: 6.14.01.6307
ATI Control Panel Version: 6.14.10.4029
DirectX Version: 9a
OS Windows XP, Build 2600 SP1 (English)
Linux Enterprise 8.1
Server Benchmarks under Linux 32/64 Bit
Database test MySQL 3.23.52 - 32 Bit SuSE Enterprise 8
MySQL 3.23.52 - 64 Bit SuSE Enterprise 8
Memory transfer Stream 5.1 with customizations - 64 Bit
FPU/Integer performance Unixbench 4.1 (Drystone/Whetstone)
FPU performance Whetstone with 3 compiler flags
NASA Benchmark 1 ARC 2D (Euler algorithm, depth 100)
NASA Benchmark 2 NPB (BT, CG, EP, IS, LU, MG, SP)
Samba File Transfer 1 D-Bench 2.0 (MB/s)
Samba File Transfer 2 T-Bench 2.0 (MB/s)
Workstation Benchmarks under Windows XP
3D Rendering Lightwave 7.5 Build 572
Cinema 4D XL 8.001
3D Studio Max 5.1
MP3 Audio Encoding mp3 Maker Platinium 3.04
MPEG-2 Video Encoding Pinnacle Studio 8.5
Main Concept 1.3.1
File compression Winrar 3.11
CPU and Multimedia Bench PC Mark 2002
SiSoft Sandra 2003 SP1
We used several different benchmark tests in order to give you a complete and balanced picture of how the two servers performed. The benchmark results from various desktop and workstation CPUs provide a general overview.
Well, there it is... Plain as day. From April 2003. Geee I guess the G-5 wasn't first after all....
MSFT wins $90 Million Dollar Government Homeland Security Contract
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The Department of Homeland Security said on Tuesday it has awarded a five-year,$90 million enterprise agreement to Microsoft Corp to become the department's primary technology provider.
Under the contract, Microsoft will supply desktop and server software to the newly created department, which has merged parts of 22 different agencies into one entity.
The agreement delivers licensing coverage for about 140,000 desktops and will help the department to establish a common computing environment, Homeland Security said in a statement.
Dell Marketing LP. was selected as the reseller, to provide the day-to-day management of the enterprise agreement, it said.
Ahhh... The sheer beauty of ubiquity...
$$$ace$$$
Overture purchased by YHOO -Speculation of MSFT's next move-
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Well, my pals up the road at Overture sure were partying this evening. Some of them expect a MSFT counter offer. (I don't.)
But, I will be watching shares of LookSmart (LOOK), Tuesday.
Yahoo said Monday it's buying Overture Services for $1.63 billion in stock and cash, combining one of the top online media companies and the leading paid-listings firm.
The deal comes as competition in the search industry heats up and the paid-listings business continues to power growth in the online advertising sector.
Overture, which pioneered the pay-for-placement listing model online, is expected to generate $1.1 billion in sales this year. Yahoo -- one of the top three destination portal sites -- is expected to generate $1.3 billion in sales. Roughly two-thirds of that is derived from its core traditional advertising business as well as its paid-listings business, which it enjoys through its partnership with Overture.
As part of the deal, Yahoo will pay $4.75 in cash for each Overture share. Overture shareholders will also receive just over six-tenths of a share -- 0.6108 -- of Yahoo for each Overture share they've held.
That means Overture shareholders would receive $19.66 in Yahoo stock plus $4.75 in cash for a total of $24.40 per Overture share. That's a 13 percent premium to Overture's close Friday.
Overture shares jumped 12 percent to $24.05 in response to the premium valuation that Yahoo is paying. But Yahoo shares fell 2 percent to $32.20 on concerns the deal would dilute earnings in the short term, though Yahoo said the deal would be neutral to earnings in 2004.
"We think this marketplace is very early on," said Yahoo's chief operating officer, Daniel Rosensweig, in an interview with CBS MarketWatch. "We can't sit back and wait."
By combining the leader in both traditional advertising and paid listings, Yahoo would "accelerate this position in this marketplace," Rosensweig said.
Yahoo said the deal is expected close in the December quarter. Yahoo isn't planning layoffs beyond redundancies in administrative positions, said Joanna Stevens, Yahoo spokeswoman. Overture has 1,300 employees and Yahoo has 3,837 employees. "The value of this transaction is not in cost reductions but in the significant synergies between the two businesses," said Stevens.
"Long term, we believe that this deal makes strategic sense for Yahoo," wrote Youssef Squali, an analyst at First Albany. He estimates that Overture accounts for roughly half of Yahoo's cash flow and a significant portion of Yahoo's online advertising revenue.
Timing
To this end, by acquiring Overture, Yahoo secures much of the sales and cash flow, Squali wrote.
Indeed, Microsoft and Yahoo accounted for 65 percent of Overture's sales in the first quarter. Squali estimates that Microsoft contributed more than Yahoo, accounting for roughly 35 percent to Overture's revenue.
If Microsoft were to own Overture, Yahoo would risk losing the healthy cash flow and revenue it receives from Overture.
Since a combination had been speculated upon in recent months, and discussed among observers in Silicon Valley as much as six months ago, it comes as a surprise to some that Yahoo would pay at relatively higher prices. Overture shares have recaptured the $20-mark, a level not seen since February.
Since February, however, the stock languished, giving Yahoo the opportunity to make its move.
Yahoo's deal-making at Overture's more recent highs prompted some analysts to wonder whether the move was meant as pre-emptive.
In fact, based on the action in the stock market, investors are expecting Microsoft to make its own move and buy up LookSmart , its paid-inclusion search partner. One analyst speculated that Microsoft might even make a counter offer for Overture.
Beyond just the competitive landscape, the timing of the deal does raise questions about Yahoo's outlook for traditional advertising versus paid-search advertising.